PAPER TIGER

for two high voices, piano, media + electronics; 12min; written for Opera Philadelphia
(Movements: I. Visions, II. Paper Tiger, III. Metalloid)

PAPER TIGER is a 12 minute digital opera– the premiere recording is performed by vocalists Eliza Bagg and Miss Grit and pianist Mary Prescott, with media and electronics by Yaz, and a film directed by Sean Pecknold (Fleet Foxes, Netflix, Dreamworks, Google, The NYT, etc.) starring lead dancer Megan Doheny.

In PAPER TIGER, I reflect on nearly a decade of my identity as a queer person of color. In the opening song Visions, I recount feelings of being unseen and undesired in a time where marginalized genders had little mainstream representation, and Blackness was seen as less desirable. The titular song Paper Tiger explores the multitudes and complexities of gender expansiveness– the music throughout the work straddles several genre lines including hip/trip-hop, contemporary classical, and hyperpop. The final song Metalloid celebrates the joy to be had in “trans-ness” and gender nonconformity– in the ability to continually create oneself: “I can be anyone / I can be anything.”

Inspired by the theme of visibility in my composition, Sean made a film about the struggle for acceptance and wanting to be seen in a world crowded by conformity. Using a range of expressive dances, emotions and abstract sets, they chart a frustrating, repetitive, confusing, euphoric, twisting path towards finding the strength to be oneself during a day in the life of our lead character.

Premiere/Film Credits:

Yaz Lancaster - Music/Composition, Text/Lyrics, Violins, Media/Production
Sean Pecknold - Film Director
Eliza Bagg & Miss Grit - Vocals
Mary Prescott - Piano
Tyler Neidermayer - Sound Engineer/Design, Additional Production
John Kilgore - Recording Engineer
Megan Doheny - Lead Dancer
Teresa “Toogie” Barcelo - Choreographer
Courtney Wynn Cooper - Art Director
Travis Waddell - Director of Photography
Adi Goodrich - Production Design
Ash Marshall - Film Producer
Sarah Williams - Creative Producer

*Synth bass + vocal samples in II. Paper Tiger from various friends <3